Sunday afternoon

 Dear daughter and I went to the town for breakfast and a bit of a shop.

Her grandaughter has her 5th birthday next week so I need DD with me to make sure I got clothing that fit, haha. 

This afternoon I'm going to steam clean the rugs and upholstery in Ruby. While that dries in the bright sunshine I'm going to get the gloves on and finish cleaning up the garden. The tomatoes and squash are all done. We got a grand total of TWO cucumbers that weren't worth eating. Some potato peelings that got dumped in the old garlic bed grew to be huge. They flowered, now starting to wilt, so there might be a few spuds to pull.

The cat is still among the living.

Weeks End

 Here we are at the Labour Day weekend!

The kiddies returned to school already this week.

We went shopping in a tiny village about 40 km from here. I FINALLY managed to buy a pair of Birkenstock closed shoes! My feet are sore from wearing them today, but that will improve. I've been slopping around for months in terrible footwear. These new shoes will tell my bones and muscles to shape up. I suffer from.planter faciitis and excessive outer pronation. Both contribute to sore feet.

This evening we harnessed up the pup and went for a walk. We are trying to get into a routine.

The cat is still among the living, though barely. If she doesn't fade away on her own before, the vet is making a house call on Tuesday.

And so it goes

 Animal Hospital Veterinarian just called

All the test results are in and our poor girl is in end stage renal failure. There is no turning back.

I have to get up the nerve to call the local hospice vet to come visit. M just can't do it. She is his baby.

Trying times

 We're having a tough time getting through the days this week.

Our cat stopped eating and was getting very grumpy. She is diabetic so not eating is a big problem. I checked her blood sugar and it came up as severely hypo. She almost seemed comatose at one point! We made an appointment with our vet.

So, yesterday, Friday, we drove the 40 km. with her howling in the back seat. We were quite shocked that her blood sugar showed very high on the clinic glucose monitor.  A lot of labs were done. The vet told us to knock off the insulin as she might have reversed. Cats do that apparently. We were sent off with medication (they gave her some sort of injection there too) for her stomach and a very light purse.

Surprisingly, she ate a good meal when we landed home, but nothing since.

This morning we planned to hit garage sales as we're on the hunt for something. Just as we were ready to head out the door the animal hospital phoned with some scary news. Kitty has a serious kidney/bladder infection. We had to hop back in the car for another 40 km trip down the highway. She was given an injection of a long acting antibiotic that will last a couple of weeks. We bought special food for kidney disease and advised to buy some kitten food in an attempt to entice her to eat. When we arrived home she again ate a meal, then went to bed.

Late this afternoon she licked some butter off my finger so I went for the bowl and managed to get a teaspoon of food into her.

We can't go on like this. Hopefully she is going to improve the next few days. We love our pets but this health scare is really hard on us. 

On the positive side, the herbs I'd brought in are dry, rubbed and in their air tight containers. Next up are oregano a thyme, which grow  profusely around the yard. I don't know if I'll bother with the catnip. Kitty isn't interested in it.

This evening we ran another dozen bottles through the dishwasher. Tomorrow we are canning salsa! It's going to be a wet day, so good enough to get that done.

I've cut back on my internet time. I've cut all but a bit of local news right out. The stupidity of the outside world was doing my head in! I have preserves to make, knitting to do, books to read and trails to walk.

In the night

 It usually takes me some time to fall asleep.

I enjoy.having the windows wide open. The night breeze is lovely.

The night sounds are interesting. Depending on the time of year, there are lots of different bird sounds. The resident owls are my favorite. We usually have a whip poor will that flaps down the side lane and hollers it's head off. It has left for it's winter abode.

Tonight there are a lot of helicopters flying around. It's either military or search and rescue. Both services are frequent flyers in our air space.

As morning draws close I will hear traffic building on the highway, which is about three kilometers north of us.

We had loggers roaring up a week or so back, but it's pretty quiet this week.

Keeping busy

 I'm slowly cleaning up the garden. Today I pulled all of the herbs and set them up to dry.

The carrots and turnips in the back garden are all that remain. They can stay for weeks yet.

The garlic and onions are curing in a dark corner of the garage.

My friend around the corner gave me a grocery bag of wild plums. They were a devil to prepare because they are so tiny. I got two mason jars of "jam". M and I decided it is more suited to plum sauce for egg rolls than a spread for toast.

Early yesterday afternoon I drove the 20 km. to my Pal's new house to see how she was getting on. She was struggling to open a tub of yogurt and hadn't eaten in 20 hours! (She is diabetic!) I set her up with her yogurt and a coffee and made her a bowl of oatmeal. She had been waiting for her d.i.l. to come help. She was struggling to get her meds sorted. Her family make plans to support her then don't follow up. They live just up the street.

Tomorrow I'm off to "run around" with my daughter. I think some breakfast is part of the plan. She is enjoying being on holiday this week.

Update

 We had a lovely time with M family at the cottage on Round Lake. We were back to the farm stand too! M bought a bushel of cucumbers for a mere 10$. We have been really busy today "doing them up" as my Scottish grandmother would say.

M's mother took a bit of a turn and had to go back for medical attention. His brother and the children will close up the cottage.

My Pal is home from hospital and tucked into her new home. I think she was a bit perturbed that I hadn't been to visit her! I tried to explain that her family wouldn't give me an update. I didn't know if she was in ICU or in a coma even!! I asked if I could drop off her keys and parking pass tomorrow but she said she was busy. I'll try again for Sunday. I'm going to stand back for a bit. She will call me when she needs help.

Just some stuff

 The week started off with a bang.

I had to take my Pal for a dr appointment then we were grocery shopping. Before we even got into the exam room she was in crisis. Her dr called for an ambulance! She wasn't in imminent threat of dying so we had a wait. Clinic hours were over by an hour and a half but the dr stayed right with us until the paramedics finally arrived. They sent an suv! The dr and paramedic got her belted in, but I wasn't allowed to accompany her. I called her son, who told me he was already on his way to the hospital because his son had a motorcycle accident! The lad is okay but my Pal is tucked up being treated for who knows what now. Her daughter in law  told me to sit tight and she'd call me when my Pal is ready for visitors or whatever. 

Yesterday we went to the nearby lake where M's parents are at a cottage resort for a week. We had a lovely visit and went for a swim. His dear mother is in very poor health so every bit of time we have with her is a gift.

Tomorrow his entire family is getting together for a picnic. We have been busy slamming the pots of pans, haha. I made a potato salad enough for a crowd. M was busy making relish with all the over ripe cucumbers were were given. It sure is yummy! We will be taking a jar along with the brats we picked up to bbq.

On the wildlife front, the neighbours are reporting the bear is still hanging about. We haven't seen it yet. I'm surprised it hasn't come by to forage the compost pit! The little fox still shows up every evening. The owls chit chat to each other across the yard. Most evenings the coyotes get out on the road for choir practice. I'm sure some folks find the racket quite annoying but I love to hear them sing.

M got the last of the load of firewood into the shed today. I should have been helping, but just wasn't able. I get these annoying sinus headaches that keep me from bending over. (I've been waiting to see a specialist about it for months)

August weather is just about the best! Sultry days give way to cool nights that make sleeping a lot easier. We are rushing toward the end of the month when the weather could throw some surprises at us. September is going to be busy for us. Following the long weekend I'm going to my old home town to visit family and friends. The week after that my daughter and I are going to gather some friends to head off to a fiber event. That throws us into the middle of September! Gosh, time is flying when we have things to do and places to be. To bad winter didn't do the same.

Another rainy day

 Early this morning we stepped out to get started on this mess.

We need to get it into the shed before to much rain falls on it.

My youngest and her youngest are coming to town for a couple of days. They will come to us tomorrow and have dinner. DD is fond of M spaghetti so we needed to get a pot of sauce stewing. I had to run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things for the meal.

On my way home I had to pick up more boxes for my Pal to pack her house. I was surprised to see the big moving trailer there and her house almost empty. She has lived there since building that home with her late husband in 1963. It's very hard for her to leave.

I saddens me to realize she is now palliative and is not going to be with us much longer. My daughter and I will be going to spend our coffee dates with her as long as we can.

The front garden is booming. I pick zucchini every day. There are some other unidentified squash in there and one watermelon. I'll soon be harvesting the herbs in the middle box. The far box had garlic and onions that have now been harvested. It's replanted with radish and lettuce. The box in the foreground is all flowers.

And then there is this.

I make use of containers! My neighbour is giving me four recycled dryer drums to plant in next season!

Sunday drives photo dump

 Last week and this

Thursday already

 

Gosh this week is flying by! Monday was a holiday of course, which threw us out of sync.

It was some sultry today. It felt like 35C though it was only 26 with a high humidex.  I finally put the AC on at dinner time. We just couldn't take the humidity. My poor old power bill has taken an awful hit with this constant AC running.

I popped up to have a visit with my pal early this afternoon. She has had a visit to the hospital with a variety of problems. She is hoping to get moved to her new place in the town no later than the end of the month, where she will get more support services for daily living. I took her a bouquet of flowers from my garden. 

Sunday drive on Monday

 We finally got rid of the rain clouds. It was shaping up to be a gorgeous day. We put the dog cover on Ruby's back seat, boosted up the dog and headed north east. We crossed two bridges and ended up in Quebec.

 Highway 148 is a lovely drive. We meandered off the beaten track into a wee village. I don't know the name unfortunately. On a cottage road we spyed an older lady sitting under a sunshade selling blueberries. Her "quart" certainly was bigger than the grocery store quart! They are so yummy!

We saw a doe and fawn attempting to cross the road in front of us! We waited for her, but she chased her youngster back the way they came.

On the highway very close to our turn, there is a hill with a bend right at the top. Imagine our surprise to see a flashing police cruiser on either side of the road! Oh boy, some truck driver missed the bend, crossed the southbound lane and ended down the steep embankment into the woods! It will take a bit of work to get that vehicle up and out, as well as closing the highway for however long it takes.

We had a nice bbq for dinner. I took the corncobs up the path for the raccoons. I swapped out the card in the trail camera. A young coyote came by for a visit!

Wet

 We sure haven't experienced any dry spells this summer.

I might have had to water the gardens three times this season.

This is one of six garden boxes. I've had to do some trimming since this photo.

This weekend has been a washout. We were supposed to have guests but that plan washed away.

Our neighbour across the road called over to report a bear! I put another trail camera up with hopes it will wander through here. The wild berries and chokecherries are so abundant this year! Ol bruin will be well fed in preparation for hibernation.

Door in old wood houses

 Door is in but awaits trimming. 

It was like a sauna outdoors all day, then the rain came. 

It roared and poured pretty much all afternoon so M quit for the day. He is not happy with the look of gaps in certain places, though the big patio door IS square and level. This old wood house has settled and twisted, hahaha. 

I had a laugh with my neighbour who had a nearly 150 year old log house. He told me a story about trying to install a door with his f.i.l. When Poppa and B were here yesterday she was telling me about their basement door starting to sag. They live in the original homestead dwelling in their hamlet. It's one of the oldest in our township.

Old wood houses throw up some frustrating challenges.

I'm not taking any photos until it is all trimmed out and the glass washed. It sure is a lot brighter in the kitchen, compared to the old clouded up French doors.

Messy messy messy

 We are having (exterior) French doors replaced today.

Why does a simple "pop the old one out and new one in", have to get so complicated?

Porch boards and floor boards are being torn up. yucky yucky.

And to further complicate things

I started vacuuming up dead bugs by the thousand, and sawdust, but forgot to put the replacement filter back in the vacuum, which is now probably buggered for good because it is barely sucking. (Yes, I did put the new filter in)

And it's going to get hotter than haddes this afternoon and this gigantic hole in the south facing wall is letting in the heat.

What a day....

My Old Ladies

 I've been thinking about the elder women in my life lately.

My mother was younger than I am now by several months, when she passed over. She developed a rare disease as a result of being a long term smoker. She worked until she was 73 though! (I left work at 46 due to my fibromyalgia). Despite my disability I've managed to stay quite active and relatively physically fit. This summer though, I'm finding my body trying to kick me down. ( Which might be why I'm thinking more about my elders?)

My good friend Pal was a real power house until she was about 85. She developed diabetes with all the complications that really knocked her for a loop. She was widowed with a small child shortly after I met her. She always worked without social supports, until she was pensionable age. Even then she still did baking for special clients. She really has been my role model, though I don't care for her old lady pincurls. Hahaha

So, old lady hair styles! How they have evolved. My grandmother and her pals all had that pin curl thing going on. My grandmother went to the salon every Saturday morning for a shampoo and set. She touched the stragglers up with her own clamps, pins and nets at home. I was always fascinated with those odd things as a youngster. That drawer in her bathroom was dusted with scented powder. I love the smell that arose when I dug out those funny clips. Once a month my grandmother had a blue rinse put in her hair. Ladies of my generation are more variable with their color choices. Pink and mauve are popular. My eldest daughter frequently goes for green or a brilliant saffire blue.

My maternal grandmother was a prominent role model in my life. My mother was a surprise "change of life" baby, so my grandmother was pretty old when I was born. My mother married in her 30s after my father returned from the war. So, my grandmother was really elderly forever. Still, she had lots of time for us and taught us great life skills. My grandparents were master gardeners. Grandmother had an amazing knowledge of natural herbs and remedies that she learned from her mother, who in turn learned from the First Nation Matriarch's. 

As the much younger baby of the family, my own mother had no interest in any of these skills, so it all came from Grandma. Mum graduated high school just as the second war started and went to the big city to work in a munitions plant. I had visions of her all dolled up like Rosie the Riviter, but she was an office worker. She stayed at work after the war, after my Da convinced her to marry him, and after she had me. She was a modern woman!

Now I'm an old woman, sitting here ruminating over the changes in each generation.

 I still can't get over that blue hair business though.

Another week in the books

 I can't believe it is Friday already. Where did the days go?

Wednesday I took a run to the town with my dear daughter T and my Pal. We did a little shopping, grabbed an iceCap from Tim Hortons and beat it home. 

Today we bundled the pooch into the car and went to the lake for the afternoon. It was a nice day for a swim. I bought some adult floaties that sure helped my confidence in the open water. We thought about going out fishing with brother in law but it was a little too windy for me, so we ditched that plan.  I get sea sick VERY easily. They are getting ready to host the pilgrims on the way to the shrine at Cornac, so they are busy getting set up anyway.

Tomorrow we are heading to Deep River to see some sights.

Busy Weekend Quiet Day

 Saturday was cloudy, but the smoke seemed to have cleared. About noon, I left M doing some prep work for the event he was hosting,  and headed to the small city to attend the Multicultural Festival. I didn't get to far when I noticed the extremely ominous looking sky across the Quebec side of the river, and a bit of thunder rumbling. It seemed like a good time to get back to Ruby and head out. As I reached for the door big fat rain plops started hitting me. Before I got anywhere there was such a deluge I could NOT SEE!

I had to pick up a couple of things for M. at the grocery store. I got soaking wet, even with the rain poncho! It was just blowing and raining like crazy.

I came home and gave M. a hand chopping and dicing and moving things to freezers and all that. 

Sunday dawned bright and clear. 

M. was hosting a Chinese buffet for Poppa''s 83 birthday. There was a lot of cooking going on in this house. It was a really great meal and everyone enjoyed it with great gusto. Ten bodies were filled to bursting, haha.

M. especially is just whooped after being on his feet for two days cooking up a storm. We are on 'vacation" this week so we're going to enjoy some down time.  We have at least one out of town day trip planned. On Wednesday I'm having a girls day with my daughter T and my Pal.

There is a bit of rain in the forecast so we will probably have to figure out how to work around that. I think the one day trip can probably be okay because it is mostly just a drive by.  I hope we can work a lunch stop in there.

We had the Fifa soccer final on in the background all afternoon. That was one nail biter of a game! We were happy to see Spain win. Some of the spectacle was questionable according to our audience, but the game was fantastic!

Living in the woods

 Or why I live, where I live

My home is approximately half way between the small city and "the Lake".

There is a tiny village just up the way. It has a church and a cluster of homes, a coffee roaster and not much else. There is no store or post office or coffee shop. Just a kilometer up the highway is my road running to the south west. There are 25 households down here so I guess we qualify as a small subdivision.

Most nights we are serenaded by coyotes, owls and an occasional wolf. The neighbouring chicken farm has a couple of lads who herald our wakeup call. There are frequent wanderers moving through the yard. I've seen bear, moose, deer, foxes, and raccoons. Yes, we have seen a wolf and the odd coyote too. We had a wolf sit and watch a worker tune up our AC unit one summer afternoon! He wasn't aggressive, just curious. Once he was satisfied with what he was doing he wandered across the front field and out the lane.

 

It is very peaceful here. It's usually a few degrees cooler than up at the highway where the heat radiates off the pavement.

My home is at the very end of the road, so frequent power and internet outages are a fact of life. We cope. We learned how the hard way.   

Time and Time again

 Once again we are deluged by smoke from northern fires. This is the second summer in the past five years that we have had the issues. In my 70+ years of life I can never remember this before.

I'm staying indoors as much as possible.

I was reading a piece in a Toronto publication about folks going on vacation. It continues to baffle me that having spotty cell service is worth anxiety. I would think folks want to get out of the city and leave that crazy umbilical cord detached. Once upon a time we would take a computer device so we could check in with our home and pet sitter once in awhile. It baffles me when I see the folks wandering around the features, not paying any attention to their surroundings - unless their connection drops, sheesh.

What a headache

 Yes, I was awake about 5AM with a real pounder and one side of my face feeling numb. I usually get two migraines a year, during an extreme cold spell in winter and the opposite in summer. 

I watered my gardens and took a quick run up to give my Pal some paperwork I'd copied for her. Her house was lovely and cool with no AC! It is very hot today but tomorrow looks worse!

It's usually nice and comfortable here early in the morning, then again late afternoon. Not quite today though.

My hanging baskets are doing great. I'm not sure what kind of petunias these are. The flowers are very tiny, maybe the size of a nickle. They don't require deadheading like regular petunias. Tomorrow morning I will give them a touch of fertilizer in their morning drink.

What a Day

The 40th Annual Artisan Market/Fair happened today in the nearby hamlet of Barry's Bay. 

(Unfortunately my computer or blogger is giving me grief about adding photos)

This was my first trip into the wild blue yonder without M., my daughter or my Pal by my side. I'm still figuring out some of the geegaws on Ruby so it will be interesting. Getting the CD player to play before I even left the lane was the biggest head scratcher.

It was quite a nice drive. There was little traffic until I got quite close to B.Bay when it all seemed to be coming to a near halt as I drove down the hill into town. It was a slow crawl to get through the main shopping area. I managed to snag a parking spot right in front of the lovely Madawaska Coffee Shop.  I had to make a pit stop and get caffeinated! 

I parked there and wandered up the other side of the street. Stop one was a run into Afelskies Shoes for a chat with the proprietor Sean. He knows I'm trying to snap a certain pair of Birkenstock SHOES. He hasn't had any luck yet but he pointed to another line he just brought in that are VERY GOOD (and CANADIAN!) knockoffs called Viking.! They are also about half the price. Sean says the footbed in this product is identical to the Birks, which is what I need.  I'm going to head back in a couple of weeks when he has most of his fall stock in to see what is available.

Stop two was a run through Stedmans V&S looking for a sundress. They had a nice selection marked down, so that was a score! We have an extremely hot week coming up and I need something to wear that isn't a muumuu. If you ever watched the TVs program Threes Company and remember Mrs. Roper, she always wore long loose cool dresses called muumuus. I think they originated in Hawaii though.

By that time, I needed to hit the Artisan Market. It was SO CROWDED. There were so many crafts and lovely art on offer.  I didn't buy anything there. I had a quick few words with my pal Teresa, who is the proprietor at the yarn shop in the town. She was at the market cooking up blooming onions. They sure smelled good. Unfortunately I'm allergic to onions so I had to pass. Her hubby Jason tried his best to convince me they were some delicious, but I tried my best to convince him they weren't for me, haha.

Teresa told me there was some delicious hand dyed yarn with my name on it across the street in her shop so off I jogged, dodging the traffic in the crosswalks. Barrys Bay has well marked cross walks with prominent signage. Unfortunately the tourists don't seem to be able to read very well.

I snagged my beautiful scarlet yarn and scurried back to the car. I decided to skip the traffic jam and headed up one of the well known back roads out of town. It was a pretty round about road, but a relaxing drive. I did get a little bit "lost" when I thought I was taking a shortcut. Instead of turning right off the first side road, I managed to miss it and turned on the second, which turned out to be a logging road with a gate at the very end. I had to drive a little further out of the the way then I anticipated. Yes, I got lost wandering around the Wilno Hills! It was no big deal in the end because all roads lead to the highway eventually. I even stopped to take some photos along with way.

When I left town my eyes started bothering me. They were itching and burning and my vision was a bit cloudy. I was getting concerned until the radio announced we are getting smoke from Quebec wildfires northeast of us.  Well that was a relief, of sorts.

Refreshing

 We had a couple of hot hot days, but it broke overnight. This morning we are getting a lovely rain.

The deer flies are horrible. We don't seem to have as many dragonflies to take them out. Where are you dragonflies?

My Pal and I are hitting the town today to get her business taken care of. This is her first trip in Ruby. She is excited about that.

The heat is back

 Our temperature was over 30C again today.

We had to make a trip west past Deep River this afternoon. There is a lot of highway paving happening. We were quite uncomfortable sitting there waiting for our turn to proceed through the construction zone. I can't imagine how brutal it is for the workers. M pointed out that the guy sitting up at the controls of the hot mix machine would really be in the hotspot. He had a big umbrella but there was steaming asphalt below him. The fumes alone would be horrible!

A glorious day and a food review

 Saturday dawned sunny and bright but the humidity had left the scene!

After M finished repairing the S.B. We loaded the Princess Pup, water bottles, towels and sunscreen and headed south west. We stopped in Barrys Bay  for ice cream first. M enjoys fruity types so he had a peach something or other. I've been wanting to try Kawartha Dairy (our favorite brand) flavour called Tragically Chip. They finally had some! It's a mixture of maple, whiskey, cherry and chocolate. Any of these flavours individually I would love. The cherries seemed to be soaked in the whiskey flavouring. Too big of a chunk of that bit was almost bitter. I had it, it was interesting, but I wouldn't buy it again. There was just TO MUCH going on flavour wise.

Kawartha Dairy is located just a bit south in Bobcageon, Ontario. They are known for the unique flavour combinations in their ice creams. In the summer they roll out some interesting offerings for the season. We tried the butter tart a few weeks ago. Again it was interesting and tasty, but not for us. Our favorite so far has been the blueberry cheesecake.

Cones in hand we drove through town and headed up Paugh Lake Road. This lovely country lane meanders through the forest just south of Algonquin Park. There are a couple of side roads that run up either side of Paugh Lake. I forget the name of the road we took, but it's on the east side. There is a small natural beach next to the boat ramp. It's a nice sandy bottom. We can't deal with weeds! The water was really warm for the beginning of July. M and the pup enjoyed a swim while I just waded to my knees. (I'm a good swimmer but have a fear of open water after a near drowning as a youngster.)

We had a nice leisurely drive home. Yes, it was a grand day.

Terry

 Terry was my first cousin.

He died in 2010. That is 16 years ago. 

We've been looking for him about 20 years.

He was always at lad with wanderlust. As a young teen he disappeared and was found some weeks later in TEXAS!

He would show up at our place and take my sister and I on adventures. It was always great fun.

His son didn't know where he was. I don't know if he particularly cared because they were estranged.

We were a group of cousins who loved him dearly and wanted to know he was doing okay.

The last know contact was an art exhibit at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto. After that the family seemed to lose all contact with him.

We recently discovered he had died when a mutual cousin was photographing headstones in a cemetery in Toronto for the Find A Grave Website. This gentleman also looks a the registration books and saw Terry's name. His surname is very unique. There are only maybe a dozen people in all of Canada with that name, and they are all related. He immediately contacted me for Terry's full name and to verify his birthdate. It came as quite a shock. I had to contact his son to give him the news.

My daughter works with homeless people. I shared the information we had found and she is going to get more details next time she is at Beechwood Cemetery. The charitable organization she works with bury all of their indigent people there. With the given information she thinks Terry was indeed indigent himself. She is going to attempt to find out the details of his passing and hopefully shed some light on where he was the past years.

Rest In Peace Cousin. 

You were loved.

You were remembered.

Well doesn't that beat all

 Ruby passed her checkup with flying colors. The mechanic said she is a real gem and we did well buying her. 

We were ready to leave the garage, me driving Ruby and M driving the S..t Box as it is affectionately known....but it was not to be...the S.Box would not start!! The starter went belly up! The saga of our vehicles is to be continued. Ruby got us home again in air conditioned comfort.

I have several years of posts archived out of this computer. I don't think there was anything of great importance on the 37 posts I managed to delete.

The terrible thunder storms have continued to hit many of us.  The only damage here was to my poor peonies. They were so late blooming this year, then the rain beat them to death. 

We are laying pretty low in the extreme heat.

Happy Canada Day

 I managed to delete my blog posts!!!

Starting over

Our back thermometer was reading just shy of 40 C just before the sun dipped behind the pine trees!